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Frank Scorsese, center, nephew of legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, looks at his lawyer during his arraignment at Stapleton Criminal Court earlier in the month.
Frank Scorsese, 39, nephew of legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese looks at his lawyer after hearing his bail that was set during his arraigned on dealing drugs at Staten Island Criminal Court. (Mark Bonifacio/New York Daily News)
(New York Daily News/Mark Bonifacio)

"The Scorseses are a close-knit family deeply concerned for Frank," Fonte said after Frank Scorsese's arraignment Wednesday on an indictment in state Supreme Court, St. George. "Hopefully, his addiction issues can finally be addressed."

Scorsese, 39, pleaded not guilty through Fonte to three felony counts of criminal drug sale, along with felony and misdemeanor counts of criminal drug possession.

Scorsese, whose last name appears as "Scorcese" in court papers, stated his name when asked by the court clerk, but said nothing else.

The goateed Eltingville resident was garbed in a maroon T-shirt and dark pants.

Scorsese, who is free on $20,000 bail, was ordered back to court on June 24 for a conference, as was a co-defendant, Lori Santillo, 57, of Oakwood.

Ms. Santillo, who pleaded not guilty through her lawyer, Alexsis Barravecchia, is the wife of John Santillo, the auto-body shop owner.

Scorsese's uncle, Martin Scorsese is the legendary director of "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas," "The Departed," "Taxi Driver," and, most recently "The Wolf of Wall Street." The director has ties to Staten Island — his brother, Frank, had lived in Great Kills for several years, and the wake for his mother, Catherine, was held at Colonial Funeral Home in New Dorp in 1997.

Police allege Frank Scorsese and Santillo, 55, peddled heroin to an undercover detective on April 16 and April 29, at the auto shop.

Scorsese is also accused of selling heroin to the cop on April 8 on Amboy Road.

When police searched the shop on April 30, they found 72 plastic bags of heroin in a jacket hanging in the shop, as well as three more bags and one alprazolam pill in a metal container, prosecutors allege.

A search of Santillo's Oakwood home that day turned up more drugs - 272 bags of heroin in a brown box in a first floor closet, 10 alprazolam pills on the closet's shelf, and a scale, prosecutors allege. Alprazolam is an anti-anxiety drug better known under the brand name Xanax.

Police also allegedly seized two guns, five shotguns and a rifle.

Ms. Santillo, who is charged with weapon and ammunition possession, was home at the time, said cops.

John Santillo is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, according to information from District Attorney Daniel Donovan's office.

After Santillo's arrest, a worker at the shop called the allegations "a mistake."

Scorsese and Santillo both have criminal histories.

Santillo is a convicted felon, records show – he was sentenced to four to 12 years in state prison for robbery and grand larceny in 1983.

According to a law enforcement source, Scorsese skipped out on three separate court cases from 2010, when he faced charges of resisting arrest, unlicensed driving and criminal weapon possession.

When he turned himself in on a bench warrant this past February, he took a plea deal and was sentenced to 30 days in jail for the weapon case, and conditional discharges for the other two, the source said.